Wednesday, December 7, 2011

No-knead Crusty Dutch Oven Bread

Back in October when I cooked up the brisket I made my first loaf in a dutch oven. I wanted to revisit the process but produce something with a little more crust and heft then the loaf I had made a few months ago. The final result, which is pictured was exactly what I had imagined when I set out to make this loaf. A nice crunchy crust, a heartier taste with an undertone of rosemary. With bread this good that is so deceptively simple, I am sure this style will become a mainstay in my bread making rotation!

No-knead Dutch Oven Bread
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus some for dusting
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbs rosemary
1 1/2 tsp salt
cornmeal for dusting.
In a large bowl dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour(s), rosemary and salt, stirring well until blending. The dough should be pretty shaggy and sticky at this point. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let it rest for 8 hours at room temperature.
Once the dough is ready lightly flour a work surface and place the dough on it. Sprinkle with flour, punch down and fold on itself a few times. Cover and let rest 15 more minutes. Once rested shape the dough into a ball, place in bowl and dust with cornmeal, turning dough ball as you go. Cover and let rest another hour.
With the dough resting and about 25 minutes left preheat the oven to 475 degrees, with a 6-8 qt dutch oven inside as the oven heats. When the dough is ready carefully remove the dutch oven and lift the lid off. Slide the dough into the dutch oven, shaking it firmly once or twice to help distribute the dough.
Cover the dough and bake for 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until the loaf is a nice golden brown. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a wire rack for an hour.
There you have it, a long on wait time, but low-impact loaf that is very delicious!